Consequences
by The Taloned Merlin
Summary: Alphonse knows he is hurting Mei. Sequel to 'In the Way'.


A/n: This is a sequel to _In the Way_. You are, obviously, under no obligation to read the prequel, but you will find this story easier to understand if you do.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

Please do review and tell me what you think. :)

Consequences

There are all sounds of bustle around me.

I am sitting at an inn near the local library. After hours of exhaustive research and two cups of strong coffee, I had trundled out, dazed with the information on Alkahestry that seemed it would spill out of my mind if I stumbled, and had come here to clear my head, only to find Zampano and Jerso already there, sitting by a deep window and looking more than a little tipsy. They called me to them, and I had no choice but to oblige, and sat opposite them. They pressed drinks on me, but I refused, and I am still trying to finish the bread-roll on my plate.

Truth be told, I had no idea what I would do once I came here. I had vaguely contemplated food, but found I had no appetite, and right now my two companions are helping little with their drinking games and crass jokes. People throw us furtive glances from over their mugs. We make a strange company, I suppose, with two giants and one fair-haired boy who is clearly not from Xing, and with my shirt and waistcoat and light-blue coat hanging from the back of my chair I must look entirely too foreign.

Jerso pushes another drink towards me, leaning forward eagerly. "Don't be a wimp, Alphonse," he says gruffly, though he is smiling. "You're old enough, aren't you? I was several years younger than you when I got well and truly drunk." I am two-and-twenty, but strangely have never liked the taste of alcohol. The first time I had some – I was fifteen, and Pinako gave me a sip of brandy to warm me because it was cold out – I had choked and thought I had never tasted something so vile, aside from the stews my brother concocted whenever it was his turn to cook.

I reply primly, undoing my striped tie because I feel it is too formal, "You two can drink as much as you like. I can't stand the taste, and I don't think I want to know what I'd do if I got drunk." Come to think of it, I'd already engaged in something that makes me blush, and I hadn't even had the excuse of being intoxicated then. Of course I berated myself for my foolishness and, admittedly, my insensitivity, but that did not negate the act itself. Mei probably hates me now, or at the very least thoroughly dislikes me.

I glumly pick at my roll with a fork, sighing and mentally giving myself a swift kick.

"Alphonse?"

I start. "Yes?"

Jerso points at my chest. "You left your tie on."

"Oh." I touch it, and it is indeed hanging slack around my neck.

"You're also red to the tips of your ears, by the way. What did you do? Or were you drinking before you got here?"

"No!" I say, flustered, clutching my tie. Silently, I curse my inability to hide my emotions; living inside a suit of armour had been inconvenient, but no one could read my expressions. Now, I have great trouble concealing my feelings for anything, and it has gotten me into trouble on more than one occasion.

"You did something – I can tell." Jerso arches an eyebrow, and I am glad that Zampano is too busy waving an empty bottle of wine about to notice, else I'd have two people teasing me unto death. Jerso suddenly puts a hand on the back of my head, draws me uncomfortably close to his face, and says, "It's a girl, I know. You have that look. Not that you don't have _looks_ – " He pauses and waits for me to snort with embarrassment at his remarkably poor joke, but I am beyond that point right now, so he continues, "Did you get her into trouble?"

I stutter incoherently, appalled. In a certain sense, yes I did, but not in the way Jerso thinks, and before I can come up with a proper reply someone says, "Oh, you're here, Alphonse."

We turn to see Mei standing nearby, clad in her usual burgundy tunic, her hair braided and knotted about her head. She eyes us dubiously, and it takes a moment for us to realise the more-than-scandalising position we are in, and Jerso quickly lets go of me. I sigh, leaning back in my seat, though I'm not exactly relieved at anything. Mei furrows her brow, and looks back and forth between my friends and me. At length she says, "I'm sorry, can I borrow Alphonse for now?" She is cryptic, which makes Jerso look at me closely, and I twist my lips in return, as if I have tasted something bitter. Zampano is too drunk to notice anything; he is half-out of his seat, shouting greetings at an elderly couple at the opposite end of the room. They look disturbed, to say the least.

"Alphonse." There is something in Mei's voice that makes me look up, pursing my lips, and she nods towards the rickety entryway. I excuse myself and get up, and have no time to put on my coat because Mei is already striding out the door. I practically run after her, and she slows once we are outside and away from the inn. It is early evening, and the crescent moon already swings in the sky, modestly half-covered by blue-grey clouds.

I roll my coat in my hands and say, "Mei, what's this about?" though I think I have an idea.

She does not answer my question, instead saying, "Take off your tie, Alphonse. People are staring."

At first I look at her in confusion, then understand and quickly rip it off and pat down my hair. With my untidy clothes and locks dishevelled from clutching at them while studying, and with a woman who happens to be a princess, I must look quite inappropriate. I give her a shamefaced smile which she does not return, and she leads me wordlessly through the dark, dusty streets till we reach her house.

I cast my gaze to the ground as we walk through the neat, trimmed gardens with its little ponds and pale wildflowers, and only look up when we reach my chamber and she discreetly shuts the door.

"Mei?" I ask uncertainly. She is leaning against the door, breathing somewhat erratically; she looks anxious. Swallowing to ease my parched throat, I say, "Is this about that time in the garden?"

Her silence confirms it, and before I can begin to apologise she says in a cracked voice, "Do you hate me?"

I blink. Whatever I had expected her response to be, it was certainly not this. "What?" I say stupidly.

"Don't make me repeat myself, Alphonse," she snaps almost hysterically.

"I – Why would I hate you?" I say in a high-pitched voice that I should no longer possess. "I thought you hated _me_!"

"Don't be a fool, Alphonse! You're meant to be a genius. You can't tell me you had _no idea_ as to why I was avoiding you till now?" The lamps in my room are unlit, and her face is pied with deep shadows and pale moonlight. Despite the dimness, I can make out her expression quite clearly thanks to the wide windows; her brow is creased and her eyes averted, and her lips trembling slightly with emotion.

After gaping at her, I finally say in a low tone, "I...I know that you're going to marry a local lord, and I'm sorry I...I'm just so sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

Bitterly, she says, "You did, anyway." I flinch at her tone. "But it was my fault, too," she continues, her expression softening. "I should have made myself clear from the beginning. I didn't hide what I felt for you properly."

I look up, studying her face. "But...then – " I am cut off when she advances to me and, with astonishing strength that I should by now have realised she had, swings me around so my back presses against the white-washed wall and, with an ardour that makes me drop my coat and tie, takes my lips in a heated kiss. I am too shocked to respond, and merely stand stiff, eyes wide. It is only when I taste moist saltiness that I pull away and look at her; she is crying. Murmuring her name, I draw her into an embrace, securing her head against my chest with a gloved hand. "Don't, Mei. Why do you weep like this?"

"Al," she chokes, shoulders quivering, "I don't want you to leave."

Stroking her knotted hair, I say, "I have to. Edward will be a father soon enough, and I can't not be there." My waistcoat and shirt are getting damp now, and I curse myself further. "I'll be back in a few months. You can wait that long?" I look down at her, resting my chin against her head, and suddenly I am, more so than earlier, loath to give her up to some man neither of us has ever met, even if he be better than me in every way.

She does not even nod, and I have to bend down to kiss her again, closing my eyes. She returns the gesture somewhat weakly, clutching my upper arm, and it seems an eternity (oh, but it is not nearly enough) before we pull apart, our breaths mingling. Bold as brass, she brings her fingers to my neck and lightly runs it across my collarbone, and my eyes shut again of their own accord at the pleasant feeling, and I realise that even though I can't and do not want to possess her, I still can't help but think of her as mine. I don't want her to look at someone else the way she looks at me. This is paradoxical, and my mouth tightens in a grim line.

"Alphonse?" she says softly, gazing at me; her dark eyes gleam like coals, and I look away but do not let go of her.

We stand like that for a time. At length I stroke her cheek with the back of my hand, and she leans into the touch; her lips brush against my covered fingers. I can hear our breathing in the silent room; there is no other sound, and I can find no words to say, and eventually we slip to the floor, still clinging to each other.

It is only when the birds begin their song that Mei stands up, touches her lips to my brow, and quietly leaves.

I, for one, remain still till the sun caresses my face and bleaches the wooden floor.


End file.
